Rectina was a friend of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

author

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

. During the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, Pliny received a message from her, which prompted him to set sail with galleys and a cutter to observe what was happening at closer range, and to attempt to rescue some of the people of the towns at the foot of the volcano. Pliny's ships were unable to approach the shore to rescue Rectina. It is not documented whether she survived. Pliny himself died after putting ashore further down the coast. Pliny the Younger says that Rectina was married to a man named Bassus or Tascius or Tascus; the name is rendered differently by different translators. Nothing is known for certain about either Rectina or her husband's identity.

In modern literature

Rectina appears as a character in book 2 of

Caroline Lawrence Caroline Lawrence (born 1954) is an English American author, best known for '' The Roman Mysteries'' series of historical novels for children. The series is about a Roman girl called Flavia and her three friends: Nubia (a freed slave girl), Jo ...

's dramatic fiction series "

The Roman Mysteries ''The Roman Mysteries'' is a series of historical novels for children by Caroline Lawrence. The first book, '' The Thieves of Ostia'', was published in 2001, finishing with '' The Man from Pomegranate Street'', published in 2009, and totaling ...

" written for children. In that story, she appears as wife of Tascius Pomponianus of Stabia. Several scenes in Robert Harris' bestselling novel Pompeii are set in the

Villa of the Papyri The Villa of the Papyri ( it, Villa dei Papiri, also known as ''Villa dei Pisoni'' and in early excavation records as the ''Villa Suburbana'') was an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named afte ...

, just before the eruption engulfed it. In this story, the villa is claimed to belong to Roman aristocrat Pedius Cascus and his wife Rectina. At the start of the eruption, Rectina prepares to have the library evacuated and sends urgent word to her old friend,

, who commands the Roman Navy at

Misenum Miseno is one of the ''frazioni'' of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient Roman times as Misenum, it is the site of a great Roman port. Geography Nearby Cape Miseno marks the northwestern end of the Ba ...

on the other side of the Bay of Naples. Pliny immediately sets out in a warship, and gets in sight of the villa, but the eruption prevents him from landing and taking off Rectina and her library – which is thus left for modern archaeologists to find.

References

{{reflist 1st-century Romans 1st-century Roman women Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown